Building blocks for school purposes



M, H. NICHOLS.

BUILDING BLOCKS FOR SCHOOL PURPOSES.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 23,1921- Patented Jan. 3, 1922.,

BUILDIQTG BLOCKS. FOR SCHOOL PURPOSES.

Specification of Letters Patent:

Patented Jan. 3.1922.

- Applicatto n filed February 23, 1921. Serial l lo. 447,192.

To ZzZZ whom it may concern 1 Be it known that I, MAY H. NIc'HoLs, a

citizen of the United States of America, and resident of Pomona, in the county of Los Angeles and State of C'alifo-rnia, have invented certain, new and iuseful Imrovements in Building Blocks for Schoo Pur poses, cation.

This invention relates to building blocks and particularly to blocks intended for the demonstration in schools of the construction of buildings.

The invention has for its object the provision of .a practical device and method for instructing children especially in the kindergarten and primary school grades the first principle of house building and structural work by means of blocks of substantial strength and weight permitting freedom of use and requiring the em loyment of muscular activity and skill in order that the minds of the children may be trained by the use of practical and substantial constructive material of simple design which may be readily comprehended by the minds ofthe young, it being the purpose to instill in the childrens minds while at play, the principles of design and execution fundamental in characterwhich will aid in'the development of thought and action.

An object of this invention furthermore is to provide novel means whereby fragments or parts of a building may be assembled to form structuresof different configurations and proportions, leaving much to the individual ideas of the users, the said fragments being readily assembled and held together frictionally andmaking it possible for the parts to retain their places until they are intentionally disassociated.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention consists in the details of construction, and in the arrangement and combination of parts to be hereinafter more I fully set forth and claimed.

In describing the invention in detail, reference will be had to the accompanying drawings forming part of this application wherein like characters denote correspond ing; parts inthe several views, and in which igure 1 illustrates a perspective View of a toy or model building showing the application of the invention in practice;

Figure 2 illustrates a perspective view of one of the elements; 7

of which the following is a specifi-- Flgure 3 illustrates a perspective view of another element; and

Figure 4 illustrates a perspective view of a fragment of one ofthe rafters.

In these drawings 5 denotes one of a plurahty'of bars, the dimensions of which are immaterlal, although, of course, it would neoessaryflto have them of such cross sectional area as to provide for the formation of grooves 6 on the opposite sides near each.-

end, form ments from disengaging one another when they are assembled, and preferably, the grooves are of such-depth as to permit the interlocking elements to lie in contact with these grooves being of proper depth to one another as the joints between the elements have been formed or established.

The bars may,'as stated, be of different lengths and those for the side of the building will, of course, be longer than those for the ends, but this condition will be understood by those skilled in the art and therefore it would be unnecessary, it is thought, to show those that are intended for use at the ends and those for use at the sides.

The bars shown in Fig. 2 may be termed full length or double-headed bars and they are intended to form elements which completely inclose'the wall on which they are used.

In Fig. 3 I have illustrated a single headed bar 7-.and it is to be understood that a plurality of such bars are to be employed and they are used where the ends 8 are to interlock or form joints with the ends of the bar 5 whereas the opposite ends are plain, and the said bars 7 are used in formlng Window or door openings in the structure being produced. Their application to the structure is well shown where they are superimposed at each side of the door and each side of the window and, of course, these elements may be made of different lengths to form the openings at the side or ends of the structure.

The rafter elements 9 are adapted to extend upwardly toward the center of the structure andhave their ends abut as at 10 so that they form a bridge-like support for the roofin boards 11. The ends of the rafters WhlCll contact each other as at 10 are beveled and the pitch of the roof is determined by the length of the rafters. As a means for anchoring the rafters each rafter near the outer end is provided with a recess shoulders which will prevent the ele- 12 which will fit over a recessed portion of one of the members 5, and as the rafter 1s on an incline, it is necessary to bevel the under rafters has a, pin 14 which forms an abutment or support for the roofing boards and as the outermost roofing board 1s held against displacement by the pin, the other roofing boards will successively engage the previously placed roofing boards so that the whole structure may thereby be covered.

These building elements can be made comparatively inexpensive. on account of the fact that the interlocking parts are practically duplicated on the shorter or longer bars, and a machine when once set to produce the grooves at the end can be used for the bars of different lengths.

I claim:

1. In a toy or model building, bars having oppositely grooved surfaces near their ends, the grooved portion of one bar being adapted to interlock wit-h the grooved portion of contiguous bars extending at right angles to each other, rafters having beveled inner ends and provided with grooves near their outer endson their lower sides, the said grooved portions of the rafters belng adapted to interlock with the grooved portions of ments for roofing boards, and roofing boards extending from the rafters at one end of the thereof.

2. In a toylbuilding, bars having recesses structure to the rafters at the oppositeend inth'eir opposite sides near the opposite ends, a series of bars having oppositely disposed grooves at one end and having undisturbed surfaces at the other end, the said grooved portions of the bars being adapted to interlock and extend at right angles to one another to form a structure with openings therein, rafters adapted to be placed at each end of the structure, each of said rafters having a beveled inner end adapted to abut the companion rafter, the said rafter having a groove in its under edge near the outer end and a beveled'surface extending from the groove to the end of the rafter, the said outer end of the rafter being adapted to interlock with the uppermost bar. and the said beveled surface being adapted to bear on the up er surface of the bar thereunder and extendlngat right angles thereto, abutments projecting upwardly from each rafter near its outer end, and roof covering elements adapted to be su ported by the rafters and to bear against t e abutments.

MAY H. NICHOLS. 

